30 Aug 2015

Hair has always been an important element of beauty for all women across the world regardless of race, colour or creed. Bad hair days are as normal to women mainly because women are cautious of their looks.

However, women in the small mining town of Jwaneng and surrounding areas can say goodbye to bad hair days because one determined youth, Olerilwe Kemonye, 28, has taken it upon herself to make women look and feel beautiful while at the same time earning a living through hairdressing.

Having only a Junior Certificate, Kemonye took a decision to make a living through hairdressing, which she describes as the highest blessing God has ever given her because she gets the opportunity to make women feel and look beautiful.

“The smiles on my clients’ faces after I have done their hair is payment enough” she said. Kemonye says passion and commitment are the driving forces behind her business. She explains that she has always loved to play around with hair from a tender age, but she did not read much into it until she had no income.

The youthful hair dresser said that she started taking her hair dressing skills seriously in 2007 where she worked in different salons both in Kanye and Jwaneng. She said that being an employee helped her to get experience in running a business, dealing with different hair textures, personalities and hair styles.

She says that the experience she got from salons she worked for before establishing her business is worth more than gold because now she is able to run her business successfully.

Kemonye explains that the ability to deal with different clients with personalities that are also different has worked well for her as she has over 25 women who are her regulars.  “I love it when a client comes back, that means I am doing something she is satisfied with” she said.

When talking about profits, one can not fail to notice the beam on her face, reasonably so because she informed BOPA that she makes between P10 000 and P15 000 a month. She explains that the profit from her business has enabled her to build a house in Tonota, where she hails from.

When talking about advertising, she said that she only advertised herself on facebook at the start of her business last year, but her skilful hair dressing has always been the one to speak on her behalf.

“I have clients coming from as far as Gaborone and villages in Kgalagadi to do their hair here,” she said. She explains that she appreciates the support the community in Jwaneng and surrounding areas has given her, saying that some of her regular clients nicknamed her Magic Hands and Hair Guru.

Magic Hands says that she does in all hair styles, but hair extensions has always been her trade mark as most of her clients prefer them over other hairstyles. One of her clients, Leatso Timothy said that her hair is only done by Kemonye because of her exquisite skills that always leave her amazed and a head turner. She added that Kemonye has been doing her hair for the past four years.

“She has a way of making one feel more confident about herself,” she said. Magic Hands added that in support of empowering women, she has taken two ladies whom she apprentices to do hair so that they can also be able to grow, have their own businesses and continue the legacy of hairdressing.

One of the two ladies who are under her wing, Mosamarea Keokgethetse said that she is learning a lot from Kemonye in running a hair dressing business. She explained that Kemonye always encourages her to dream big where hair business is concerned.

Kemonye said that the sky is the only limit for her, that is why she hopes that in the near future her business would be all over the country. When talking about the challenges she faces, Kemonye explained that lack of operational space in Jwaneng has been a major setback in expanding her business, but she’s hopeful that the town management will resolve the issue fast to enable youth in business to aim even higher

She advised aspiring hair dressers to get in business out of passion not for money as passion lasts longer compared to the thirst for money.  She also sells hair extensions of all kinds ranging from the trending Brazillian, Malaysian, Peruvian, Indian and famous yaki hair extensions. ENDS